Category Archives: Baltimore Orioles News

Baltimore Orioles Trade Jose Iglesias

Yesterday the Baltimore Orioles traded SS Jose Iglesias to the Anaheim Angels. The move came as a surprise, seeing that the Birds had re-upped Iglesias for at least another season. In return for Iglesias, the Orioles received RHP’s Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto.

GM Mike Elias spoke to the local media after consummating the trade, and attested to the importance of getting young talent into the system:

He’s not a player that we would have traded lightly, but we knew there were some open shortstop jobs around the league, we knew he was very attractive for his offensive and defensive and leadership skills that he put on display here with the Orioles. And I think we got two quality arms from the Angels. One of whom, in particular, is somebody that we’ve been focused on since he was in the 2019 draft, Garrett Stallings, one of the best pitchers in the Southeastern Conference that year. Went in the fifth round. We were impressed with him then and while he has not officially played professional baseball because he was shut down after throwing 100 innings at Tennessee, which the Angels do with their draft picks, and then the minor league cancellation is here, we got to scout him in person and also video and data this year through their instructional league. He also appeared briefly at their summer camp when they had some spots open up due to some players leaving camp on their team.

I think it’s another great starting pitching prospect to add to what’s becoming a very impressive stack up in our system. We’re getting all that we can get. I’ve said before that I don’t know that I would trade our starting pitching in the minor leagues right now for anyone else’s and this makes me feel even stronger that that might be the case. So we’re looking forward to working with him. We’re sad to see Iggy go, but this is the business of getting this organization to a long-term period of sustainability.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

What Elias is in effect saying is that the Orioles’ goal in 2021 isn’t so much to win. It’s to continue developing and to get younger. It’s about the future, not 2021. The prospects that the Orioles got in return aren’t top tier prospects per se, but you never know – with any prospect. Stallings was the number 21-ranked prospect in the Anaheim farm system.

I’m sure that different fans will have different opinions on this trade. Personally I believe that you always have to have an eye on the future. The Birds will need to find a new starting SS now, and my prediction is that they look outside the organization for that. Just a prediction – not to be taken as gospel!

Baltimore Orioles avoid arbitration with Pedro Severino

The Baltimore Orioles and catcher Pedro Severino yesterday reached a contract, avoiding arbitration. The Birds will pay Severino $1.825 Million next year. The arbitration deadline was yesterday afternoon.

I’ve long said that salary arbitration is a wasteful and cumbersome process. First off, most teams and players avoid it. Just because the deadline passes doesn’t mean you’re going to arbitration. The deals can still be made, in some cases right up until just before the hearing.

But I say it’s a wasteful process because it can cause bad feelings. The team is literally arguing that the player isn’t worthy of the money the player thinks he is. And the player is arguing that the team is underpaying him. It doesn’t do much in the area of goodwill.

Needless to say, it’s a good thing that they’re avoiding arbitration with Severino. It would be a good thing to avoid it with anyone.

Baltimore Orioles land Miguel Padilla as a PTBNL

You know things are slow with the Baltimore Orioles (and across MLB) when a Player to be Named Later is a story. But it is, because…2020. Nevertheless, the Birds have acquired Miguel Padilla from the Houston Astros as of yesterday.

The Orioles sent pitcher Hector Velazquez to Houston in July for a PTBNL. I suppose that in the grind of the season I forgot about the trade, however normally PTBNL’s are named well before now. Nevertheless, the trade has been finalized.

Padilla pitched in 19 games to a 2.08 ERA in the Dominican League in 2019. Keep in mind these Players to be Named Later are generally low level prospects. But still, it adds a prospect to the Orioles’ farm system. And with the rebuild that’s being undertaken, there’s value in that.

Baltimore Orioles: Happy Veterans Day to all who served

There isn’t much going on in the Baltimore Orioles’ world right now. That seems to be about par for the course across the league. For the most part. But baseball isn’t really to topic du jour.

Today, November 11th, is Veterans Day. So I want to take a moment to thank all who have and currently are serving our nation so bravely and so proudly. America is truly free BECAUSE of the brave. We must never forget that.

Baseball of course has a very deep connection with our Armed Services, with multiple players across various generations having served. And over time, MLB players along with athletes from other sports have joined up with the USO to entertain our brave troops stationed overseas.

So while MLB celebrates dates such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July with day games and hot dogs, I know that teams, fans, and players across the league join me today in offering a debt of gratitude to all of our nation’s brave veterans.

Baltimore Orioles: John Angelos approved as Orioles’ control person

According to an article written by Jeff Baker of the Baltimore Sun, John Angelos was approved recently as the new “control person” for the Baltimore Orioles. In short, this means that he has succeeded his father as the managing partner for the team. On paper his father, Peter Angelos, is still the owner, but he’s the guy in charge.

John and his brother Lou have been in essence running the team for two years while their father’s health has declined. So this was just a matter of housekeeping in a sense. Angelos was approved with 23 of 30 owners voting in his favor.

This would seem to point to the Angelos family’s continued stewardship of the team once Peter Angelos passes away. That’s not set in stone, however it would seem that the league is amenable to that. Again, this was just a formality. But a necessary formality. Hopefully for at least awhile, it closes the book on the franchise’s future in the city of Baltimore.

Baltimore Orioles pick up option on Jose Iglesias

The Baltimore Orioles have picked up their $3.5 million club option on SS Jose Iglesias. This ensures that Iglesias will be on the roster in 2021 – at least to start. He might be traded during the season, of course.

Iglesias of course missed some time with injuries this year, but he hit .373 on the season. The Birds faced a $500,000.00 buyout if they didn’t pick up the option. So it made good business sense.

I think that Iglesias’ continued presence could make some difference. He obviously has a steady glove, and as a veteran he can make a difference in the clubhouse. The O’s are getting even younger with more guys coming up from the minors, and that’s important. His steady hand and his savvy in terms of knowing what to do as a major leaguer could make a world of difference.

Baltimore Orioles: ChiSox look past the nose on their face with Tony LaRussa hire

The Baltimore Orioles will have a new/old face with whom to contend in 2021 when they play the Chicago White Sox. The “southsiders” have just (re) hired Tony LaRussa as their manager. It’s a return to his roots for LaRussa, 76, who’s first managerial job was with the ChiSox. He managed them from 1979-1986.

It was LaRussa’s ChiSox that were defeated by the Birds in the 1983 ALCS. Of course the O’s went onto win the World Series against Philadelphia that year, their third title. LaRussa was fired as Chicago’s manager midway through the 1986 season, and a few weeks later was hired as the manager of the Oakland Athletics. The rest, as they say, is history.

This is obviously a shocking move, and one heck of a splash by the ChiSox. And quite frankly, I applaud them. In a way, it goes against the grain of where people seem to want the sport to go. LaRussa’s certainly one of the greatest managers of all time, however at 76 those days appeared to be in the rearview mirror. It seems that fans and the league alike want both coaches and players to be younger now. To embrace analytics more…

…LaRussa’s obviously an old school coach. He’s the type who may not embrace analytics as much. But his prowess in the dugout can’t be second-guessed. So while the sport as a whole is going in one direction, the ChiSox kind of went back to their roots – in more ways than one. This is a classic case of someone looking past the nose on his face, and again I applaud that.

It’ll be interesting to see how exactly LaRussa handles himself. Because in a case like this (an old, albeit gifted coach returning to the game after an absence), there’s always a question of whether the game’s passed him by. We’ll obviously find out as time goes on next year, but again kudos to the ChiSox for looking past the nose on their face in their managerial search!

Baltimore Orioles: Baseball acumen triumphs in Fall Classic

Baltimore Orioles fans saw a division rival crash and burn in the World Series last night – the Tampa Rays. The sad thing is…it didn’t have to be that way. However manager Kevin Cash put his loyalty to metrics and analytics above sound baseball acumen.

Let me be clear; there’s a place in baseball for analytics. They say that stats don’t lie, and they don’t. However Kevin Cash and his Tampa Rays take it well past an extreme. I’ve said many times when they’ve been playing the Orioles that if there were a stat or a study which said that they had a better shot at recording an out on a given batter with the outfielders dressed as ballerina’s, they’d do it.

My point is this: everything in moderation. And that includes analytics. Last night in a World Series elimination game, Tampa led the LA Dodgers 1-0. (For the sake of clarity, it was an elimination game in the sense that LA needed one more win to clinch a World Series title. Had Tampa won they would have forced a game seven tonight.) Starter Blake Snell appeared to be pitching a gem. He had allowed no runs and a base hit through 5.1 innings (while striking out nine). That’s EXACTLY the type of outing you want from a pitcher in any circumstance, be it an exhibition game or an elimination game.

Snell allowed a second base hit in the last of the sixth inning. A singular base hit – he was otherwise pitching a gem, and LA was having trouble getting guys on base. And Tampa (and Snell) was winning the game. Yet out emerged Kevin Cash from the dugout to change pitchers.

The runner at first later scored on a wild pitch. Los Angeles would then take the lead on a fielder’s choice, and Mookie Betts would smack a solo homer in the eighth as an insurance run. All of that combined gave Dodger Blue it’s first World Series title since 1988.

But make no mistake, the World Series was lost from Tampa’s perspective the moment Kevin Cash left the dugout to remove Blake Snell. There’s no sound baseball logic since the beginning of time which has said you remove your starter in that situation. However apparently the metric said that Snell facing the Los Angeles order a third time (specifically Mookie Betts) around had a higher probability of securing a win than did leaving him in. That’s why the move was made.

And Tampa has a stellar bullpen. However you don’t lift a starter who’s pitching the way Snell was – REGARDLESS of what analytics say. You have to manage the game while having a feel for the game. However that’s just not the way younger managers are doing it. We saw the same thing last year in the World Series when AJ Hinch pitched to the Washington Nationals with first base open. Incidentally, Mookie Betts smacked a double in the at-bat where he otherwise would have faced Snell. The irony.

Again, analytics and metrics do play a role in the game. Odds are they always have to some degree. But to put all of your trust in a computer the way that Kevin Cash did last night, and in the way that countless others do everyday? Too much. As a manager you have to know what to do. There’s no a fan in America who thought Snell should have been pulled last night. Yet the one guy who’s opinion mattered most was the one guy who saw it as a good idea.

After the game Cash tried to defend or at least explain his actions:

We owe it to ourselves to bring it all together and try to make the best decisions. Some of the decisions I’ve made this postseason, they are gut-wrenching. You feel for Blake. What we try to do is put our team in the best position to win. I totally respect any opinion off of that.

The margin of error Blake was pitching with, I felt the different look would be beneficial.

Quote Courtesy of Gabe Lacques, USA Today

Even afterwards, he evasively tried to defend the decision. “Bring it all together and try to make the best decisions,” in essence means I’m using the analytics that are at my disposal. Again, analytics should play a role in all games. But should they take the place of true baseball acumen and feel for the game? The answer to that has to be a resounding NO!

Make no mistake, this will go down as one of the biggest managerial blunders in World Series history. There’s absolutely no question in my mind. And it allows old school guys such as myself the ability to rest easy tonight knowing that these ridiculous new age-type tactics DON’T NECESSARILY WORK.

Baltimore Orioles re-sign Stevie Wilkerson to a minor league deal

The Baltimore Orioles have re-signed Stevie Wilkerson to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Wilkerson completed physical therapy last week after fracturing his finger in Philadelphia during an exhibition game. It cost him the entire 2020 season.

Wilkerson is excited about getting back to the team following his injury. He’s also excited about the possibility of having a normal off season following the craziness of 2020. He and his wife are in the process of moving to Sarasota, FL, which of courser is where the Orioles train.

Just as a reminder, a minor league deal isn’t a guarantee that Wilkerson will make the big league roster. However I suspect he’ll find his way onto the 25-man roster that goes north next year coming out of spring training. I doubt they would have re-signed him if thy didn’t want him.

Baltimore Orioles: On hiatus

The Baltimore Orioles and the rest of the baseball world is paying attention to the LCS’ in both the American and National Leagues right now. And that’s about all that’s going on. There’s not much to report in terms of team news.

So for the time being, this column is going on a bit of a hiatus. If for whatever reason there’s news about the Orioles, it will be reported here. But usually that’s not the case during the post season. And who knows when things start popping again. I suspect a lot of that has to do with COVID.

Nevertheless, fans can always correspond with me on twitter, @DomenicVadala. But once things in the off season get popping again, we’ll be back here on Birdland Crush. Back and better than ever!